


In His Memory

by Quillpaw



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-01
Updated: 2013-06-01
Packaged: 2017-12-13 14:55:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/825596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quillpaw/pseuds/Quillpaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His letters had stopped coming.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In His Memory

**Author's Note:**

> My friend wanted some sad Claudia fic, so I wrote her some sad Claudia fic. Her specific prompt was from one of Ezio's letters: _"should anything happen to me Claudia, should my skills fail me or my ambition lead me astray, do not seek retribution or revenge in my memory, but continue to fight in search for the truth, so that all may benefit. My story is one of many thousands, and the world will not suffer if it ends too soon."_

The letters had stopped coming. For a while, she held out hope, thinking perhaps he was caught up in his affairs, or he was simply in a place where letters couldn’t come. Each day she wandered Roma without purpose, returning to her office each evening to open the letters again and read them over, stroking the words with her fingers as if she could feel her brother’s warmth through them.

It was one year exactly from the date of his final letter when she stopped lying to herself. Her friends and her girls all came to her, to mourn with her, and she sent each away in turn. She did not want to mourn.

She wanted to fight.

She had a bag packed and was at port in what felt like no time at all. She had a pouch of gold, enough to grant her passage to Kostantiniyye. The rest she left to her girls- they would find it, and her letter of farewell, in her office when they went to look for her the next morning.

She was just about to approach her chosen vessel, when a voice called out above the crowd. “Claudia!” A hand was suddenly clasping hers, and a blade was at her assailant’s throat in an instant. Time had not slowed her brother’s reflexes, she would not allow it to slow hers.

“…Leonardo?” She stared at him, but only lowered the knife by a fraction. “…Let me go this instant. I have a ship to catch.”

“You can’t go, Claudia,” Leonardo said, his voice soft but insistent. “This isn’t what he would want.” She met his gaze for several long moments, and she finally returned her knife to its sheath. “I read his letters too, _mia cara_ ,” he continued. “He would not want you to throw yourself at Death after him. He wanted you to continue the work of the Assassins.”

She was suddenly in his arms, her face pressed against him. Claudia was not a woman for tears, but a lifetime of loss suddenly threatened to spill from her all at once. She merely gripped the artist tightly, trying to control her body’s trembling. Leonardo shushed her gently, running his hand through her hair.

“Come, Claudia. Your girls need you. Roma needs you. The Assassins need you.” He took her chin in his hand, tipping it up to meet his gaze. “Your strength is better served fighting ideas here, not fighting men on some distant shores.”

“Thank you, Leonardo,” she said, her voice quiet but admirably without shake. “…Take me home.”


End file.
